Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors
Season Three Tapings
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Albuquerque, N.M. at Hard Rock Casino
Report by Alex Roberts, PWTorch Review Specialist

Lucha Libre USA was back in Albuquerque on Saturday to continue tapings for a third season of their Masked Warriors television program. This was the second set of tapings for the third season after the premiere episodes were taped last month. No premiere date has been given for seasons two or three yet, though it was promised by the announce team that there would be news about this soon.

After the usual pre-show with exotico luchador Chi Chi and ring announcer Laticia Castro, the announce team of Kevin Kelly, Alex Iz (Alex Abrahantes, LLUSA’s head of creative) and Stevie Richards were introduced. Iz told the audience they would be taking part in the taping for a commercial for the upcoming second season. Out came an old man in a cowboy hat, dubbed “OBL,” with ring valet “Kay Young” to wrestle another old man in a red do-rag and blond goatee dubbed “The Huckster.” The announce team called the match in an over-the-top manner until the two men fell asleep in the middle of the ring during a sleeper hold. I would guess that this will be used to make a commercial to contrast Lucha Libre USA to TNA and WWE (something like “This isn’t your old man’s wrestling!”).

(1) Chrissy Cialis & Vladamiro beat Octagoncito & Pequeño Halloween. Before the match, Rebecca Reyes and the red Mini Park (known as Evil Park) from last month’s show ran down and beat up the tecnicos. The combination of the odd opening commercial taping and this early run-in seemed to tire the crowd, though the minis did their usual impressive work. Vladamiro finally gained the pin with the help of Evil Park and Reyes.

(2) Aguila beat Huracán Ramirez Jr. The announce team built up the iconography of Huracan Ramirez as a movie star and lucha legend in Mexico. Aguila played off this by offering Huracan his hand in respect at the beginning of the match, only to attack him right after in a classic rudo gesture. The match started out with some impressive action, including Huracan hitting a suicide dive to ringside. After a few minutes, though, the action seemed to slow down drastically, with Aguila rather audibly calling spots and Huracan’s moves appearing labored. Aguila would eventually hit his split legged moonsault for the pin. After the match, the stable Sol ran to the ring to attack Aguila, but he was able to escape for the time being.

Laticia Castro was out to introduce the next match when Mini Park ran out to interrupt her. Park spoke in Spanish, and Laticia explained that he demanded his brother Evil Park come out and face him. This brought out Evil Park along with Rebecca Reyes. The two were getting ready to gang up on Park when another woman came out and took out Reyes. She said her name was Lady Luck, and challenged Reyes to a lingerie match for later tonight. The star of this segment by far, though, was Mini Park - the Albuquerque crowd absolutely loves him.

(3) Magno & Celestrial beat The Right (Petey Williams & Jon Rekon) in a non-title tag match. Celestrial, who hasn’t been at any other Albuquerque show, was a smaller luchador with a blue, full-face mask that heavily resembled Sin Cara's. The beginnings of the match felt like it would end as a squash, with Rekon handily throwing the two luchadores all over the ring. However, the match shifted when Petey tried heelishly to rip off Magno’s mask. Once he ripped it off, it turned out Magno was wearing another right under it, and Magno promptly forced the mask onto Petey. Rekon was then blinded by an eye rake, and mistakenly took out Petey with his Samoan Drop which allowed the luchadores to win. As this was Petey and Rekon’s first tag match together since winning the title, it felt odd to have them lose and look rather buffoonish here. However, it looks like there will be time to build them back up before a match with a more established team.

El Oriental came out next, but was quickly threatened by Sol. Aguila made the save, though. Kevin Kelly then came out to the ring to interview Aguila. Aguila said he wanted to team up with Oriental to face Tinieblas Jr. and Lizmark (who apparently was still a member of Sol). Oriental agreed.

(4) Anibal Jr. beat Chi Chi. This was another odd choice to pair with Chi Chi. Anibal worked hard with a few big moves (including a dropkick of the top rope), while Chi Chi did the usual comedy act and, at one point, countered Anibal’s powerbomb attempt in a very provocative way. Anibal would still eventually get his powerbomb for the win. Anibal roughed up Chi Chi in a rudo-like way afterwards.

(5) Lady Luck (w/Mini Park) beat Rebecca Reyes (w/Evil Park) in a lingerie match. Reyes came out wearing a black cutoff shirt and shorts, while Lady Luck came out in a one piece shiny blue outfit. Both women were eventually down to their bras; Lady Luck gained the win when she turned a Boston crab into an opportunity to rip off Reyes’s shorts. The biggest pop of the match, though, came from Mini Park performing a moonsault on Evil Park when he tried to interfere.

The International Alliance of Marco Corleone, Rocky Romero, Supernova, and Magno then made their appearance for the first time in the show. Rocky said that he and Supernova were in the three team “Lucha Ladder Match” to determine the #1 contenders to the tag belts, and he promised success. Stevie Richards then interrupted them, saying they were nothing but a “gang” that was nowhere as good as The Right. Marco ran up to the announce table and confronted Stevie, and said he, the International Alliance, and all the fans know he’s better than R.J. and can beat him for the title. Stevie mocked him, and challenged him to a match, which Marco accepted. The International Alliance huddled up and played to the crowd to end the segment.

(6) El Oriental & Aguila beat Tinieblas Jr. & Lizmark, Jr. via DQ. Lizmark and Tinieblas entered the ring through the crowd and wearing Sol’s black cloaks. Tinieblas dominated early with big boots and other Big Man moves. Aguila and Oriental also got in a few very impressive acrobatic moves. Finally, two other members of Sol entered the ring and attack Oriental and Aguila, ending the match.

Lizmark, Aguila, Tinieblas, and the two Sol members all had a stare down. Suddenly, one Sol member superkicked the other. He then took off his black mask to reveal that it was Lizmark’s longtime henchman, Sydistiko. The other Sol member was revealed to be Aniabl, Jr. Anibal and Tinieblas ran away as Lizmark, Sydistiko, and Aguila, apparently as a reformed Treachery stable, gloated in the ring and took turns elbow dropping one of the Sol masks. As the show went to intermission, the announce team noted that this segment left “more questions than answers.” Considering all the sudden realignments and turns, this felt like an understatement for much of the audience.

(7) Marco Corleone beat Stevie Richards. The crowd was extremely excited to see Marco in action, and the match had great energy. It was clear throughout that these two had a great understanding of how to play to the crowds and build up excitement. Marco would finally counter a Steviekick attempt into his Mark of Excellence for the pin. The ending felt strangely abrupt.

Next, the new Treachery of Lizmark, Sydistiko, and Aguila came to the ring. “Did you really think I’d bow to you?” Lizmark asked openly of Tinieblas. He said he’s the emperor of Lucha Libre USA and bows to no one. Sydistiko then bragged that Treachery was back. He also played up the boos coming from young fans at ringside, telling Lizmark to ignore them as they are “practically retarded.”

Suddenly, the lights went out and Sol’s music played. Treachery grabbed chairs and held Sol back from entering the ring. Once they had retreated, Treachery sat down in the chairs facing the hard cam. After what appeared to be a face turn by Lizmark at last month’s show, it was quite impressive to see such a great rudo reaction for Treachery.

(8) R.J. Brewer beat Magno to retain the Lucha Libre USA championship. The announce team told the crowd that R.J. had challenged Magno to the match, and noted that Brewer has never defeated Magno. The match had good early action, and a few well put-together grappling segments. Magno, among other moves, hit a big top rope guillotine leg drop, and great enziguiri. This set up for a final top rope move, but R.J. was able to counter this move and pin Magno with a fistful of tights. After the match, the rest of The Right came out to beatdown Magno, but the rest of International Alliance came out. Marco and R.J. eventually brawled into the audience and out of the arena. R.J.’s title belt was left in the ring, making for a nice visual.

(9) The Puerto Rican Powers beat The Latin Liberators (Supernova & Rocky Romero) and Medianoche & Mascara Purpura in a three-way “Lucha Ladder” tag team match for #1 contendership for the Tag Titles. After a show that had been a bit low on actual in-ring action, it was great to see this match featuring some of LLUSA’s most impressive high-flyers. They didn’t disappoint, and all the participants brought out a ton of innovative ladder-based moves. One impressive sequence saw Purpura hit a shooting star press off a ladder held up between another ladder and the ropes, followed quickly by Medianoche hitting a backdrop off the very top of the ladder. San Juan Kid also hit a tremendous corkscrew moonsault onto Purpura lying on a folded ladder. Petey Williams and Jon Rekon eventually stormed the ring and tied the Latin Liberators to the ropes with zip ties. After a few scuffles between the other two teams, the PR Powers finally grabbed the contract after dropping Medianoche through a propped ladder in an amazingly painful-looking spot.

As the announce team thanked the crowd for coming out, they sold concern over Medianoche’s fall. No return date was given for the next show.

Overall, this felt like something of an “off” show for Lucha Libre USA. While the matches were all quite solid, many of them were sullied by bizarre swerves and run-ins or had the feeling of novelty matches that didn’t connect to larger storylines. For people like myself who have been following LLUSA, these moves made some sense; as a standalone show, I saw that many people in attendance looked very confused. The actual in-ring work continues to be great, though, and when the confusion has settled, it looks like the feuds that have been set up (Treachery vs. Sol and The Right vs. The International Alliance) will make for some great programs. For any of its flaws, Saturday’s show still proved that LLUSA has an excited following in Albuquerque and that they are serious about making Season 2 of Masked Warriors an excellent wrestling show when it premieres.

Questions? Comments? Send me a tweet at twitter.com/roqnrollmartian!

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